A known disc brake apparatus for a railway vehicle is configured to use the principle of leverage (e.g., refer to patent document 1). Patent document 1 describes a disc brake apparatus that includes a pair of brake pad holders, a pair of arms, and a drive mechanism.
The brake pad holders are arranged to sandwich a disc, which rotates integrally with a vehicle wheel. The brake pad holders hold a pair of pads. The brake pad holders are coupled to a pair of arms. Each arm is pivotal about a fulcrum shaft extending in a generally vertical direction. Each arm is connected to the drive mechanism. The drive mechanism drives each arm so that the arm pivots about the fulcrum shaft. This structure rotates the arms. Consequently, the pads, which are held by the brake pad holders on the arms, contact the disc and apply a braking force to the disc.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2010-164183 (“abstract”)